I love easy recipes and, in my opinion, this doesn’t really even “count” as a recipe because it’s so simple. But nevertheless, here is a great one I found using my Epicurious app. The recipe originated from Bon Appetit’s test kitchen. I’ve made this recipe several times in the last year and cannot believe how easy it is. If you like fried chicken, you’ll like this!

2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil (I used canola, but I want to see if coconut will work)
Method: Heat oven to 485 degrees with the rack in the lower-middle position. Rinse chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Generously season with salt and pepper, on both sides and under the skin (be careful not to detach skin from meat). Heat a Le Creuset Dutch-style oven pan (like one of these) on medium-high heat. Add oil and keep on heat until glossy and hot. Cook chicken skin-side down for 14 minutes. Occasionally move chicken pieces around depending on the heat of your pan and stove, ensuring each piece gets an equal amount of browning. Move pan from stove to oven and continue to cook skin-side down for another 14 minutes. Carefully flip the chicken and finish for five minutes. Remove from the oven and let it rest in the pan for five minutes. Enjoy!

I haven’t had a lot of time to bake as much as I like to, so tonight I decided to bake some banana bread for the family. I also wanted to bring something to the office tomorrow, so I poked around online and came across this recipe for Morning Muffins from Martha Stewart. Honestly, Martha isn’t my go-to person for recipes or ideas … nothing against her, but I just don’t have a personal preference for her stuff.

This recipe was super easy and has a lot of healthy-ish elements to it. I made some modifications to the original recipe (my adaptions are included in the recipe below).

Morning Muffins

Makes: 12 regular-size muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar (I was out of brown … and didn’t have enough agave)

I like cooking with ground turkey meat as an alternative to beef (nothing against the cow, but it’s not my favorite type of meat). One of my original recipes I’ve tried perfecting over the past few months is a Turkey Burger with either spinach or kale.

I made these last night and love how they turned out! They’re moist, a bit spicy, quick, and best of all: made with nothing gross! Haha.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 package ground turkey breast (I used a 1.25 lb. Jenny-O brand)

4-5 cups (yes, cups … packed) baby kale, minced (see note below)

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon chili powder (or cayenne pepper)

1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1/4 teaspoon kosher sea salt

2 tablespoons garlic (fresh is best but jarred or powder work too)

1 teaspoon spices (usually I toss in my own concoction, but Old Bay, Mediterranean or any general purpose MSG- and salt-free blend works)

2 teaspoons oil (I like using coconut oil, but I’m out so I used canola)

Method: Mix everything together in a large bowl, except for the oil. Form into patties (you can make about 5 with this amount). Heat a skillet on medium-high heat, or until the oil is glossy. Cook the patties for about 3-4 minutes on each side or until browned and cooked through.

I prefer these just plain (no bun, cheese, etc.) with a little ketchup. They’re so easy and really, there’s nothing unhealthy about them. No grains, no sugar, no added fat (except the oil to cook them, but since ground turkey is virtually fat-free, you need something!). Try them out and let me know what you think!

**Note: For the kale, I prefer using baby kale (available in a tub at the store) instead of normal kale because there aren’t as many hard stems and you can use entire leaves. I tossed mine into the VitaMix with about 1/4 cup water and pulsed until it was minced really well (the size of chopped parsley).